Happy Halloween!!

Well, today is Halloween! It's 9:35 p.m. and we haven't had any kiddies since about 8:30 p.m. I was surprised at how few kids we had this year. Not sure what is going on - except that my neighbours and I have a whole lot of left over candy!!! I think we only had about 50 kids - a lot less than last year! It was very disappointing!!

I've included a few photos here of tonight's festivities. The witch is my neighbour Melu - she and Todd did a fantastic job decorating their house - 9 carved pumpkins, scarey music, a rat watching a bubbling cauldron, a bat, and lots more. Ginger is seen here posing with one of our pumpkins - I think she had a good time, but did get a bit freaked out by some of the costume accessories. Charlie and Louise, our neighbours dropped by for some treats. Ginger dressed up as a bat, however she also could have been a flying monkey from the Wizard of Oz.

Ginger's 2nd Birthday!!

Yesterday was Ginger's birthday - she turned 2 or 14 in human years! We went to Bowmanville yesterday afternoon to visit with the Smalls - Mark, Jen, Thomas and Emily. We had a yummy steak and chicken dinner and then we watched the Leafs beat the Habs! Ginger's birthday treat was the bone from the T-bone steak - she got to chew on it for awhile. We also had a little birthday cake for her - but unfortunately, she didn't get to have any of it - but she had lots of other treats!

We spent the night there. After breakfast this morning, we watched Over the Hedge - what a great movie - very funny. Then we drove up to Peterborough - first stop - Drew's house for a short visit with the twins. Then to the Northcrest Arena to see Liam and Mke. Finally, to Sandi & Barry's to check on the house - everything was good there, Scott even shovelled some snow from the driveway.

On the way back to TO, we stopped to see Carole and we bought 3 pumpkins from Watsons! Tonight I also made Ginger's Halloween' costume - she's going to be "Bat Dog"!

Installation

Today, our microwave and wall oven were installed. They look awesome!! All of our appliances are made by Jenn-Air and they are white with white floating glass. We even used the microwave tonight - Scott warmed up some pizza and I made popcorn!!! Below is a picture of Scott posing with the new appliances.



Johnny and his crew were in painting today - we picked a new paint colour for the kitchen, hallways, stairway leading to upstairs and the hallways upstairs. It's called Camouflage by Benjamin Moore. The first coat went on today and it looks great - it will be even better with the second coat!! Above is Scott in the hallway with the new colour.

2 months with no kitchen

Well, it's been 2 months exactly since we started the kitchen reno. It's starting to look like a kitchen again! The cabinets are all installed, but there are a few finishing pieces that we had to reorder - so they will take a few weeks. Brody came and finshed installing the pot lights and the electrical boxes. Johnny's crew started the prep work for painting. The work continues tomorrow. Here are some photos of the installed cabinets and lights.

In-laws in Florida

Barry and Sandi left on Saturday morning for Naples, FL - their winter home. They stopped by our place to check out the kitchen - Aunt Cheryl met us - then we went to Pete's Restaurant, formerly known as MOTORAMA, a greasy spoon, for breakfast. I just heard from Barry, via MSN Messenger - they arrived in Florida safely. However, there was almost a disaster around Fort Myers - apparently someone's tire went rolling down the highway towards their car. Luckily, Barry was able to swerve and just barely missed getting hit. I think the tire may have brushed his car - but no damages! Someone up there was looking out for them!!!

Anyways, Barry was sure to tell me that it was 92 degrees there today!! We are all going down for a visit just before Christmas - Terry, Ingrid and the kids will fly to TO - spend a night with us and then we are all flying down together for 10 days. I'm saving my $$ for outlet shopping with Ingrid!!

Babies, Babies...

Babies are popping out everywhere!! Congratulations to everyone! My friends Andrea and Cameron had a baby girl last Friday - a second daughter - and sister to Madeline - her name is Zoe. See photos below.

This passed Monday, our friends Blake and Cheryl had their first baby - a baby girl named Kennedy. See photo below.

When friends have babies, I'm always so very happy for them. I'm excited about meeting the new editions, getting to hold them and play with them. What a wonderful feeling it must be to finally see that little creation you carried around for 9 months. I thought I was okay with the fact that I am not able to have my own babies, but it's times like this that I know that I am not. I question the powers that be - why me? But then, I think of all the good things I do have in my life - Scott and Ginger, and my family and friends - and I realize that it's not the end of the world and I do have a very fortunate life. So then I am happy again.

Kitchen Update

Well, it's been a month and a half since we started our kitchen renovations!! Things are shaping up and the kitchen is looking like a kitchen. Today we received the replacement cabinets and a new shelf to replace the damaged one. We got confirmation that the microwave is coming on Saturday BUT the refrigerator is not coming until mid-November! It seems that the owner of the delivery company only put in the order yesterday! What an idiot! Oh, well, not much we can do. We are in the process of deciding on a counter top colour and material (granite, silestone, etc.)

Scott has been toying with the idea of putting glass in our pocket doors (between the living and dining rooms) - I'm not keen on the idea - but I think Scott will end up with what he wants. Johnny has been in to paint the crown moulding in our coiffer ceiling - it is looking really good! Chris, our trim carpenter has finished putting up the new crown moulding, the baseboards, and the door casings. He is coming in tomorrow to do some more work - hopefully he can install the rest of the cabinets.

William & James

Yesterday we spent some time with Drew, William, James and Abby! We met at the mall, where the twins were getting their hair cut. Then we went over to the Farmer's Market and walked around - the boys got some pumpkins. The boys are so big now - 16 months - they are saying words, walking, and it's getting harder to tell them apart!! Here are a few photos from our visit

1) Drew and William 2) Anne (Drew's sister) and James 3) James & William.

After giving them lunch, the boys went down for a nap. Scott and I went back to his parents to work on stripping the pocket doors. And to see our baby Ginger. She got a hair cut this week - she looks great. Drew and the boys came over after their nap to visit Barry & Sandi. Photos below: 1) Me and James 2) Sandi and Ginger 3) Tired Ginger.

Lower Cabinets Installed

Chris, our trim carpenter has been working on the crown moulding but today he and his crew installed our lower cabinets, and set up our run of tall cabinets. They look really good. The kitchen is starting to come together. It's very exciting!

Yesterday, October 11th, Scott and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary. We went out for dinner - for Japanese - nothing super special since we've been eating out every day for the last month!!!

Finished Floors

Tyrone and his helper, John showed up this morning to finish off the hardwood floors. They did a good job. Scott was on his computer all day working on a project...on Thanksgiving Monday no less!! And I finished stripping the paint off of our basement door. Well, its Thanksgiving, and no turkey for us!! So, we went up to the Danforth and tried out a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Now we are home watching Leaf hockey!! Below are some photos of our finished floors - the photos don't do them justice - they look really good!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend

Hooray, a long weekend! Tyrone was here yesterday working on installing the hardwood floors. They are half done and looking really good - he's coming back tomorrow to finishe them! Last night we went to my parents' house for a big family dinner to celebrate the Moon Cake (Harvest Moon) Festival. Today, we played golf at Kawartha - it was a warm, sunny gorgeous fall day.

Then we had our Thanksgiving dinner with Sandi and Barry - except we had roast beef instead of turkey! Then back to Toronto - Scott had a bunch of work to do. We left Ginger in Peterborough for another week. Below are a couple of pictures of Ginger I took this weekend -she needs a haircut!!

Chris & Tony

Today is the final day for the drywalling. Our tapers, Chris and Tony are here right now doing the final sand. It looks awesome - these guys are the best tapers in the city and really nice as well! We were very fortunate to have them working on our kitchen! And they are Leaf fans - what more could you want!! Go Leafs Go! (their first game of the season is tonight against Ottawa)

ASSU BBQ

Today we did a BBQ at work - our annual charity BBQ. It was questionable whether we were going to be able to hold it because of the rainy weather...but alas, the rain lifted and the sun came out. So, the ASSU BBQ went ahead. We sold all of the burgers!!! And now, Gadhi and I smell like grease - what a yucky feeling! But a successful day!! Unfortunately, Terry threw his back out carrying a bag of charcoal!!!

Drywall

Just a quick update about our kitchen. The drywall is up and now the guys are working on the mudding and taping. It is looking great - everything is coming together. The drywall should be done by Wednesday. The hardwood floors have been ordered - we've gone with 3 1/4 yellow birch in espresso - a darker brown colour. The cabinets were delivered on Friday - what a nightmare the delivery was! They look great - except for one damaged one and two wrong ones. So, I'm not sure how long it will take to get replacement ones.

Sharon's 30th Birthday

Sharon turned 30 last Thursday (September 28th). We went for out for dinner to the Hot House Cafe on Front & Church. I made a nice party hat for Sharon to wear - but I couldn't get her to wear it all night. We all chipped in and bought her a Kitchen Aid stand mixer - I think she liked it! A great time was had by all.